Now That Was a Convention!

      OK, no matter what your political leanings are, you have to admit that the Democrats had a heckuva convention last week. From the first night until the soaring end, the Democrats were on point with every speaker. The music was upbeat and the entertainment was remarkable. In contrast, the Republican convention was anything but inspiring. The week seemed to be dedicated to just bashing and degrading a sitting President. The entertainment was.....Taylor Hicks? Maybe the entertainment was meant to be Clint Eastwood. It cannot be denied that he and that empty chair were entertaining.  It did, however,take away from whatever message the Republicans were trying to send. ( Does anyone remember anything that Governor Romney said in his speech?) Also with the RNC, two former Presidents decided not to show up....the DNC had Bill Clinton (in the words of Stan Lee....'nuff said)
      The primary reason for having a convention is to rally the base. The convention is supposed to inspire the party to get out the vote, and elect their candidate to office. If you look at it from that perspective, the Democrats were successful, and the Republicans, not so much. The excitement and enthusiasm at the DNC was palpable, the RNC....listless. As I predicted in my last blog, the President did receive a noticeable bump in the polls after the convention. His job approval rating is now over 50%. (according to Gallup)Voter preference is still very tight though, with Obama outpacing Romney by only 3%. (which still baffles me....did Romney give the order to kill Bin Laden.....I'm just saying) So why am I still concerned, and why do I still canvass and phone bank?
     Between now and election day, there are at least two more monthly job reports. I have never seen so much emphasis placed on job reports until this election cycle. Although the day after the convention, the unemployment rate was down to 8.1%, it was still Obama's fault. Some of the wind was taken out of the DNC sails. Later I read  that the rate is lower because individuals have stopped looking for work. They believe that there are no jobs to be found. There were also only 96,000 jobs produced during August, instead of the predicted 120,000 jobs. The big hit was on manufacturing jobs. I still can't understand how it is a reflection on the President, if I, as an individual, choose NOT to look for a job. The lack of manufacturing jobs can also be traced back to the economic slowdown that is going on overseas. There was a lack of demand for U.S. goods. Is that the President's fault too?  Either job report could  hurt the Obama campaign, and have us wounded on Election Day.
     There is still a lot to do between now and November 6. We do not need to go backwards. The message needs to get out there, and people need to LISTEN. Somewhere in all the rhetoric, in all the political ads, in all the mudslinging there really is TRUTH. That truth is what we need to continue steering this nation in the right direction. Once again....that was a heckuva convention!